Almost thou persaudest me ...

Praise God for a glorious evening in New Windsor! Because of three months of sincere prayer and relationship building we were permitted to share Christ with some in our community. That said, I must admit to having mixed emotions. On the one hand I am greatly encouraged, for God was glorified and His Son clearly presented. On the other hand my heart is heavy because no one would receive Him.

After years of doing door-to-door evangelism I am familiar with this response. However, this time was particularly unsettling. Why? Because we shared Christ with some fine people. Unfortunately, their lives of good deeds and service to the community has blinded them of their need for a savior. One responded in so many words, "My good deeds will get me in."

Please pray for those in New Windsor with which we shared Christ. Especially pray for Sheri, William, Sean, and Peggy. Pray extra for Peggy who fell and is in the local hospital. Some will visit her tomorrow to check up on her and to pray with her.

Even in times when it seems our efforts fail, God is glorified and we are edified. All of the team was weary prior to going out. After, although saddend by the rejection of truth, we were greatly encouraged! Even in times of rejection, rich soil is turned over and seeds planted. Pray that soon we will witness a harvest in New Windsor.

-Mark

White Already to Harvest

Tomorrow, Oct 16th, the GROW Team will return once again to New Windsor to meet with people, seek their prayer needs, and offer Christ. This will be the third pass for this particular GROW Team. This team has worked a series of houses in the New Windsor area. The first two visits were for the purpose of meeting people, getting to know them, and asking for prayer requests. We have then taken these requests back to the church and prayed for them on the following Wednesday evenings.

I will say that the experience of both teams has been all positive. The people have greeted us warmly, they have shared their needs, and for the most part they have welcomed us back. Also, I feel that our people, those of Wakefield Valley Bible Church, have enjoyed the process and have truly developed a love for those that they have met. Now tomorrow starts step three.
On this step we will return to our warmest contacts. As before we will sincerely ask for their prayer requests. Then we will share a short Gospel presentation. We will begin this presentation with the following statement, "May I tell you of a time that God answered one of my prayers?" If given permission, we will share our testimony and move through a presentation like that of the Romans Road.

Pray for our teams and the people of New Windsor. Our other team is one month behind and will be returning to their contacts the first Tuesday in November.

-Mark

The Entire Mission of the Church is Missions

I'm sorry that I have not posted in the past many weeks. There have been many conflicts for our time and focus.

This week I am at ABWE for the Pastors' Consultation. The training has been outstanding. (If you are a pastor you should request the opportunity to attend or send your missions' pastor.) I have taken much away from the training and I will relay parts of the training on this blog as well as preach on portions of it in the near future.

One thing to share with you is the false idea that missions is what is done overseas and evangelism/outreach is what is done at home. Rather, churches need to quit separating the two and understand that the entire mission of the church is missions, that there is no difference between local church outreach and foreign missions.

I'm excited about what God will be doing in coming years at Wakefield in the area of missions. We have always had a desire to send the Gospel overseas. Let's now add to that focus the desire to take the Gospel across the street.

-Mark